My understanding is that FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is the audio archiving equivalent of ZIP or RAR, etc. FLAC archives audio more efficiently than (say) ZIP but the principle is similar. Just like ZIP, during it's archiving process, FLAC retains all data and stores it more efficiently than the original file.

Lossy codecs such as mp3, etc., are not non-destructive archiving tools. They sacrifice data considered to be less important to the overall sound before archiving the remaining data. Such data considered less important are, for example, extremely high and extremely low frequencies.

For the above reasons, it's always possible to return from FLAC to WAV with all data intact. When an mp3 is decompressed, though, the data that were removed when the mp3 was initially made cannot be recovered because no archival record was kept of these removed data.

Regards,
Noel


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Audiophile BIAB 2025